Your Rating:

Your Recommendations:

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked,
or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to
Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original
and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you
and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not
violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help
ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer.
However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or
to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the
information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reminder:

- By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its
sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the
review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.

- Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly
those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com
also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.

You have successfully created your Pen Name. Start enjoying the benefits of the BN.com Community today.

Most Helpful Favorable Review

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Afterlife was written by Gary Sotto and was published by Har

The Afterlife was written by Gary Sotto and was published by Hartcourt Inc. in 2003. The subject of the book is how Chuy, the main character, dies and turns into a ghost. He is able to go where ever he wants and no one can see or hear him. He travels around town and vis...

The Afterlife was written by Gary Sotto and was published by Hartcourt Inc. in 2003. The subject of the book is how Chuy, the main character, dies and turns into a ghost. He is able to go where ever he wants and no one can see or hear him. He travels around town and visits his friends and family. Of course, they are all sad and mourning his death. Chuy discovers more and more things about himself being a ghost. The wind will blow him away unless he does certain things, like bracing himself. This is the only way he controls where he goes while he is outside. He can touch things, like pens or paper. He can pick them up, open things and move things. He can reach inside of a person and feel inside them. He can breathe on something and make it freeze with the coldness of death. He uses these qualities to effect people's lives that are still living. Before Chuy died, he was at a club where he was going to have some fun with his friends. He was in the restroom and complimented a guy's yellow shoes. Next thing he knew, Chuy was looking down at his own body that had been stabbed lifeless. He now goes throughout his town as a ghost. He visits his parents, friends, brother, and cousin. He watches how their lives change without him and also finds Yellow Shoes. I found this book very interesting and I really enjoyed it. I like it because it made me wonder if you actually turn into a ghost once you die. I loved reading about how Chuy followed his family and I wondered if he could talk to or meet any other ghosts like him. A quote from the book says, “"You dent my ride and I'll kill you!" he threatened with a mean smile., and maybe he meant it. But someone else had killed me first, the guy in the yellow shoes…” He had a good life, and then it was taken away after he was killed. But after a while he began to have fun in the afterlife. “I drifted out onto the field. Who was there to stop me?” I like the book because even though he has lost his life, he has fun with what he has. He goes to football games and stands in the middle of the field and lets the players run straight through him. He enjoys everything he can. Throughout the book Gary Soto added Spanish words. Some I already knew, but there were a lot that I didn’t know as well. A few of the words I learned are the following: cara, which means face; chavalo, which means child; hijole, which means wow; and sapo, which means toad. There were many others, too. I also learned that weather or not you are alive, you should still enjoy yourself and have fun while you can. I would recommend this book to anyone thirteen or older. Young children shouldn’t read it because the very first few pages are about how Chuy is killed. It is a pretty easy book to read and the story is great. It is well written and I think that anyone will enjoy The Afterlife.

posted by erb16 on December 1, 2013

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

Most Helpful Critical Review

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

The Afterlife

The afterlife is a beautifully written book with a touching storyline. Its about Chuy, a seventeen year old boy in Fresno,California. Chuy is at a nightclub and he goes to the bathroom. Briefly after complimenting a man about his yellow shoes the man stabs him three ti...

The afterlife is a beautifully written book with a touching storyline. Its about Chuy, a seventeen year old boy in Fresno,California. Chuy is at a nightclub and he goes to the bathroom. Briefly after complimenting a man about his yellow shoes the man stabs him three times in the ribs, leaving Chuy left for dead. After his death is discovered Chuy checks up on his girlfriend(well his ex now...),his mother and is soon surprised to see his mother handing his cousin a knife asking him for revenge on behalf of her son. Chuy scrambles to find a way to communicate with his cousin to tell him not to do it.To Chuys relief his cousin hands back the knife. Chuy goes on an adventure not even knowing it. He soon finds his lady ghost and finds the true meaning of life,in death. A beautifully written book by far one of the most touching books I have ever read.Please rate this review, Thank you!

posted by TeenReaderIL on January 15, 2009

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

The Afterlife was written by Gary Sotto and was published by Har

The Afterlife was written by Gary Sotto and was published by Hartcourt Inc. in 2003. The subject of the book is how Chuy, the main character, dies and turns into a ghost. He is able to go where ever he wants and no one can see or hear him. He travels around town and visits his friends and family. Of course, they are all sad and mourning his death. Chuy discovers more and more things about himself being a ghost. The wind will blow him away unless he does certain things, like bracing himself. This is the only way he controls where he goes while he is outside. He can touch things, like pens or paper. He can pick them up, open things and move things. He can reach inside of a person and feel inside them. He can breathe on something and make it freeze with the coldness of death. He uses these qualities to effect people's lives that are still living. Before Chuy died, he was at a club where he was going to have some fun with his friends. He was in the restroom and complimented a guy's yellow shoes. Next thing he knew, Chuy was looking down at his own body that had been stabbed lifeless. He now goes throughout his town as a ghost. He visits his parents, friends, brother, and cousin. He watches how their lives change without him and also finds Yellow Shoes. I found this book very interesting and I really enjoyed it. I like it because it made me wonder if you actually turn into a ghost once you die. I loved reading about how Chuy followed his family and I wondered if he could talk to or meet any other ghosts like him. A quote from the book says, “&quot;You dent my ride and I'll kill you!&quot; he threatened with a mean smile., and maybe he meant it. But someone else had killed me first, the guy in the yellow shoes…” He had a good life, and then it was taken away after he was killed. But after a while he began to have fun in the afterlife. “I drifted out onto the field. Who was there to stop me?” I like the book because even though he has lost his life, he has fun with what he has. He goes to football games and stands in the middle of the field and lets the players run straight through him. He enjoys everything he can. Throughout the book Gary Soto added Spanish words. Some I already knew, but there were a lot that I didn’t know as well. A few of the words I learned are the following: cara, which means face; chavalo, which means child; hijole, which means wow; and sapo, which means toad. There were many others, too. I also learned that weather or not you are alive, you should still enjoy yourself and have fun while you can. I would recommend this book to anyone thirteen or older. Young children shouldn’t read it because the very first few pages are about how Chuy is killed. It is a pretty easy book to read and the story is great. It is well written and I think that anyone will enjoy The Afterlife.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

Anonymous

Posted March 31, 2009

The Afterlife by Gary Soto has been one of the best books I have read.

How would you react if you saw your body slowly die but your soul was still a live? Especially, if you don't believe in ghost. "The Afterlife by Gary Soto, is great book to read for all the fantasy/journey/romance lovers. The main character "Chuy", goes through a difficult journey after he is killed by some random guy in a club's restroom. He experiments his ghostly body in ways he never taught he'd be. As a ghost, he can see and listen to everyone but no one even knows his soul is around.He tries to get every ones attention with what ever he can but nothing seems to work. Chuy's main objective is to find out why that guy kills him. During his investigation he meets another ghost. She is a beautiful young girl that is his age. She committed suicide. She is a very confused,shy, and sad ghost when she meets Chuy. Both ghostly spirits end up falling in love. Towards the end of the amazing story he never finds out why that guy kills him but he does find out what true love feels like. He analyzes his life and finds out the things that mattered in his life and wants to go back to life to accomplish many things he wanted to do. His reflection is sad but theirs nothing he can do to go back. The message he gives is to value what you do have now that you may not have tomorrow. This is book for all ages. For any one who is going through a tough time and may feel like life isn't the best thing their is this is the book you should read. I truly recommend you to read this book. The author Gary Soto is a great Latino writer. He has many other great books to read.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

Anonymous

Posted November 12, 2008

The After life

The after life is a very good book, everything is surreal. The way the author tells the story is very compelling; it makes you feel like you are there with the main character in the story. When the main character dies his soul leaves his body and he feels no more pain, after he was stabbed by the boy in the yellow shoes. His body is lying on the floor of the rest room in which no should die. The main character can see around the rest room, and also the blood which was flowing on the flood, now, he realizes that he is dead and that he can float around and see thing by floating, but he not very good at it. In the story He is able to see his parents crying for him and, also can touch them or make them feel any better. Later in the story he finds out that he can make his family feel him by blowing on them so that they can feel a cold chill running down their body. The story gets more interesting when his family wants revenge his death. His mother is the one who wants the revenge. She ask her nephew to do the deed, but he refuse to do it. The main character then meets another person, who has died and she doesn¿t know how to control her self, because she is floating like a bird that has a broken wing. So the main character shows her how to float. But the girl tells him what happen to his foot. He looks down and sees that his foot has disappeared and that his time was running out. So now he has a bit of little time left in this world, because he is being erased. When time is not on your side you must do what¿s more important to you. The main character finds the girl he was looking for in the after life. This is a great book to read.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

Anonymous

Posted August 21, 2005

The Best Of The Best

I Love This Book Out Of Many Of The Gary Soto Books I Have Read.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

Anonymous

Posted May 28, 2005

ever wonder what people will do after you die?

this makes me wonder what dying is really like and what wil the p[eople in my life do after i die. i loved this book i read it all in one day i just couldn't put it down.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

Anonymous

Posted February 23, 2004

One of the best books i have ever read

I am a Typical High school student, i dont like to read, but when my librian recomended this book, i read it and could not keep my eyes out of the book. It really made me realize that life is importent. I have never read a book that was so dealied. I could almost feel him dying, i liked this book alot!

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

Anonymous

Posted January 28, 2004

Ever wondered what it's like to be dead?

Everyone is curious about what death is like. This novel gives a riveting first hand account of death and what happens next. It's hard to put down- one middle school student I know finished the book in one day! This book really makes you think about The Afterlife.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.